Lawmaker: West Virginia Paying Insurance for 4K Vehicles It Doesn’t Own

A West Virginia lawmaker says the state has been paying insurance on thousands of vehicles than it doesn’t actually own.

House of Delegates committee on government organization chairman Gary Howell announced last week the state’s current vehicle fleet totals 8,380. That’s about 4,000 fewer than earlier thought. The Mineral County Republican says the total was determined after “years of confusion and conflicting data.”

Howell says “now we finally have made agencies transparent and accountable with regard to the vehicles they manage.”

Howell says the new total will save nearly $400,000 in premium payments each year.

A bill passed last year that created a permanent fleet management division in the Department of Administration requires annual reporting and continued tracking of the state’s vehicle fleet.